Murphy's Law
by Lizzie9
Summary: Things will go wrong in any situation, if given a chance, the law states. Basically, it doesnt matter how hard you try, you're screwed. Elliot and Oliva, undercover, in love, and getting screwed, literally and figuratively. OE like you havent seen from us
1. Chapter 1

Title: Murphy's Law

Author: Sara and Lizzie

Rating: T for language, and sex

Disclaimer: We don't own Law And Order. (Obviously) If we did, there would be no Dani in the picture.

Summary: We haven't done any L&O for awhile, but during a season 7 rerun, this just popped into our heads. It was going to be a one shot, but we said, hey let's go all out. It's basically Elliot and Olivia falling into a relationship, screwing it up, screwing each other, and sometimes getting screwed.

Author's Note: We're obsessed with your opinion of our work. Please review.

_Murphy's law states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance. _

She was sitting next to him on the bench in the court room, legs crossed. Her black trench coat was still on, and her hair was longer, and considerably lighter than he could remember it ever being before. She had two pearly white teeth sunk into her bottom lip.

Even though Casey was making her closing argument, Elliot couldn't hear her. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her, from that lip. All he could think about was how stunning she was. And then, there was that lip.

Olivia was chocolate and gorgeous and racing, and it seemed to him like she moved so fast, he'd never catch her. Kathy was honey and angry and divorce papers and sometimes it was just too cliché to happen to him. Only his divorce was happening, and Kathy couldn't be honey anymore, because Olivia was that now too.

There was honey in her eyes, he decided. Flecks of gold in the mass of brown.

Olivia was worried. Not about the case, or the outcome or the fact that half the jury was looking skeptically at Casey as she closed. She was worried because she was sneaking sidelong glances at her partner.

He was sitting next to her, arms crossed, eyes blazing. He was Elliot. He was her constant in the world, and she wanted him so much it scared her. They were partners.

He was divorced. And she had no idea what that combination meant for them. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Maybe she was bored. They hadn't had any big cases in a long time. She hadn't been in a heady, sex filled, whirlwind relationship in a long time. She could chalk it up to boredom.

She always was a bad liar. And lying to yourself was the worst. She tried valiantly, though. She tried her hardest to lie to herself, but it was impossible when he had those eyes. Her cell phone started vibrating in her pocket, breaking her reverie. She got up to leave the courtroom to answer it, accidentally resting her hand on Elliot's thigh in the process.

Their eyes locked and with a shocking jolt she realized he was looking at her in that way. The way she always looked at him. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she just squeezed past him and ducked out of the courtroom.

They were teetering on the edge of control, passion and a partnership. She closed her eyes before picking up the phone, willing them both to keep it together before they spiraled over the edge.

"Benson."

"Olivia, it's me." Rang Don Cragen's voice. "We've got trouble. Big trouble."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Murphy's Law**

**Author: Sara and Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, and sex**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Law And Order. (Obviously)**

**Summary: We haven't done any L&O for awhile, but during a season 7 rerun, this just popped into our heads. It's basically Elliot and Olivia falling into a relationship, screwing it up, screwing each other, and sometimes getting screwed.**

**Mmmkay. We haven't update this in a loooong time. But we saw it in our stories list, and we were like, what the hey? Let's update. So we did. And we hope you havent forgotten about it. **

**Author's Note: We're obsessed with your opinion of our work. Please review.**

_Murphy's law states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance. _

"What's going on, Captain?" Olivia asked.

"Nine women have been raped in Philadelphia since July. Nine of their bodies have turned up."

"Okay…" she said slowly, not grasping the point of what it had to do with them.

"Care to guess the one thing they had in common?"

"Why guess if I know you're going to tell me?" she quipped dryly.

Cragen chuckled. "They were all from Manhattan."

"Oh." Olivia said, realization dawning. "Well that changes things."

She looked to see her partner sauntering out of the courtroom, his cocky swagger in full swing. She swallowed hard. "That changes a lot."

* * *

Olivia was driving Elliot crazy. In a good way. He had always been acutely aware of her movements and motions, and now more than ever. The way her hips swung, the way she brushed her hair out of her face. The way she leaned back over her chair and stretched.

It was better he didn't look at that one for too long. He watched her now, in the lobby, on the phone, muttering softly under her breath. She tucked a piece of blonde streaked brown hair behind her ear, and Elliot marveled at how much she'd changed since their partnership started.

She'd been beautiful then, that was certain, but she had lacked the grace she now possessed. He couldn't tear his eyes away as she fiddled with her bangs, nodded and hung up her phone. He couldn't have been more shocked when she sauntered over to him and jerked her head in the direction of the court house steps.

"What's going on?" he asked her as they made their way outside.

"That was Cragen." She said. "We're going on a road trip."

"Aww, Liv, you know how crowded Six Flags is going to be at this time of the year." She rolled her eyes at him impatiently.

"Sorry, kid." She said with a wry smile. "We're going to the city of brotherly love."

He made a face. "Philadelphia?"

"Nine women have been raped and murdered there since last July. All from New York City." The scowl on his face didn't lift. "It's the birthplace of America, Elliot. Declaration of Independence? Ringing any bells?"

He deepened his scowl dramatically. "You're such a baby." Olivia teased him. "I'm going under cover, you know. You could be a little bit more serious."

"Well, if Cragen's feeding you to the wolves, I wouldn't want to miss it?"

She closed her eyes dramatically and placed a hand over her heart. "Et tu, Elliot?"

He grinned and nudged her, and when she looked up at him, it suddenly became obvious how close they were. Elliot blinked, recalling the electric shockwaves she'd sent through his body by accidentally laying her hand on his thigh. And if he wasn't mistaken, she was looking at him in that way.

"Well, the jury's going to be out forever." Casey said, sidling up to them on the steps. She looked back and forth between them, and Olivia saw a fleeting amused smirk cross her face. "Right." She said. "You guys want to get some lunch?" Olivia broke the eye contact with Elliot and started racing down the steps.

"Lunch sounds good." Elliot muttered.

"Well it was either that or some cold shower." Casey said sweetly.

"What?" Elliot barked.

"Nothing." She said, catching up with Olivia.

* * *

"Here's the deal." Cragen said, tossing a file in front of her. "You're a single woman from the city. Everything about your cover's in the file."

Olivia blinked. "My cover? I _am_ a single woman from New York City."

Cragen looked the window of his office to where Elliot was leaning against a desk, arguing with Munch. "Right." He said. "Memorize it. You're staying at the Ritz. Elliot will be three doors away, but keep a low profile in interacting with him."

"The Ritz?" Olivia echoed. "Classy."

Cragen nodded. "We're also providing you with a wardrobe. Apparently, all the victims have been affluent, in Philadelphia for charity balls and salon openings."

"Sounds fascinating. Do I get free hair products too?"

Cragen looked at her seriously. "Olivia." He said. "All you need to do is catch this guy and get home safely. I'm worried, but I've got IAB and Philadelphia on my ass. Just stay safe."

She nodded. "I got it, Cap. I'll have back up. I'll have Elliot. It'll be fine." She smiled brightly. "When do we leave?"

They were to go to Philadelphia separately. Olivia on a plane leaving from JFK, and Elliot driving the sedan. They left at the same time, though, Elliot putting her in a cab, before jumping in the sedan and heading for a strange city where he didn't know what to expect.

Cragen shook his head in the squad room after they had departed. "Am I making a mistake? Sending Olivia to do this?" he asked the remaining staff that loitered around him.

Huang shrugged. "It seems scary, but Olivia is more than capable. She fits the profile. She's willing. And Elliot would die before he let anything happen to her."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Cragen grumbled.

Huang shook his head. "Figure of speech, Don."

Munch snorted. "Please. You think Elliot's hero complex just stops concerning the most important woman in his life?"

He scribbled something on a piece of paper and Fin let out a low whistle. "You're pretty confident." He said. Casey leaned over and looked at it.

She shook her head. "Double or nothing it takes three days. You should have seen the eye sex on the steps of the courthouse today."

Munch leaned back in his chair and regarded her appreciatively. "You're on." He said, extending his hand. He looked at his partner. "You in?"

"I'll bet on Liv's self control." He said.

Cragen shot them a _look_ of death. "Stop whatever it is you three are meddling in."

* * *

Olivia sighed and settled back into the seat of the plane, her mind racing. She shut her eyes and forced herself to stop thinking about Elliot. _Partner_. He was her partner. She thought about the way he looked at her, they she had accidentally brushed his thigh- upper thigh- with her hand.

The smoldering eye contact they had made on the steps of the New York City _court house_, for Christ's sakes. It had made her hotter than any of the men she'd slept with this lifetime.

And the way he had looked at her, he felt it too. She knew men, she knew her partner. And now they were getting carted off it into the midst of a strange city together, where they knew no one.

To put it lightly, she was screwed.

* * *

Elliot drove to Pennsylvania a lot faster than he should have been. Olivia would die if she saw how fast he was driving. Olivia. Right, the reason waves of frustration rolled over his body mercilessly.

She had touched his thigh, his upper thigh, and be it an accident or not, she felt something. He knew she did. And God, he wanted her.

He shook his head. He was newly divorced, and Olivia didn't do relationships. She did these fly by things that involved a lot of late night dinners and even a lot more late night sex, and Elliot, if he was honest with himself couldn't do that.

Not with her. "I love her too much to do anything…" Had he not been on the fantastically crowded Jersey turnpike, he would have slammed on his breaks. But instead he just looked out the window, at the wreckage of factories and pollution that was the Garden State.

It was there on the New Jersey Turnpike, he had the most important realization of his life. He loved Olivia Benson.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Murphy's Law**

**Author: Sara and Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, and sex**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Law And Order. (Obviously)**

**Summary: We haven't done any L&O for awhile, but during a season 7 rerun, this just popped into our heads. It was going to be a one shot, but we said, hey let's go all out. It's basically Elliot and Olivia falling into a relationship, screwing it up, screwing each other, and sometimes getting screwed.**

**Author's Note: We're obsessed with your opinion of our work. Please review.**

_Murphy's law states that things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance. _

She opened the door to her suite and let Elliot inside. "So," she said, smiling, "Philadelphia." He looked at her and smiled back. It was strange to see her somewhere that wasn't the precinct or some gritty New York street.

"Philadelphia." He said back, thinking he might just like this place. He hovered awkwardly in her doorway, not sure if he should actually enter the room, and just wait for her to say something. It was different now, the easy casualness of their long time partnership erased before the ink had even dried on his divorce papers.

"What are we supposed to do? If Cragen thinks I'm going to sit in here and watch General Hospital all day…"

"Aw, Liv, you don't want to see if Carly and Sonny make it?"

She arched an eyebrow at him, and he held his hands up in a surrender position. "Teenage daughters." He said.

"Uh-huh." She retorted, laughing. "Don't lie, Stabler, I know what you do on your days off." He grinned and stepped the rest of the way into her room, sinking down onto a chair.

"What we do is whatever we want. Cragen suspects you're going to stay off the radar until that charity thing tomorrow thing, so he suggested we get the lay of the land." Olivia nodded and shrugged.

"Well let's get started then, detective." She said. "I'd really rather not be here when the Philadelphia police sweep for bugs and cameras."

Elliot pretended to look disappointed. "And all these years you had me convinced that you loved electronic searches."

* * *

It was reminiscent of earlier days, the air between them, as they strolled down Market Street. They could have been any two people walking around that day. They didn't have to be Elliot and Olivia, detectives who worked sex crimes. They didn't have to have her sordid past and his messy divorce spiraling and spinning all around them. As the walked past the pristine green lawns of Independence Hall, they could have been people in another life. A life where they would have actually had a chance.

These thoughts hounded both of them as they walked in silence, through the cobble stoned streets, past the old buildings where things bigger than them had happened. The Declaration Of Independence. The Constitution. A new thought kept creeping into the back of Elliot's mind. What if they actually did have a chance? What if she was the one for him, what if this job and everything between them just brought them closer together? It didn't have to tear them up.

"What are you thinking?" Olivia asked eyeing the look of obvious introspection on his handsome face.

"About keeping you safe while we do this." Elliot responded automatically. It was only a slight lie. He was worried about that too. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Gee, thanks, Dad." She said dryly.

"Anytime, Nina Dietrich." He said, using her cover name, which they both found ridiculous. Their walking tour of Philadelphia continued, through stops for coffee and various distractions, and Elliot humming Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom all day. By the time darkness had begun to fall, there were sitting on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum Of Art, looking out at the city before them. The skyline was not the massive, overpowering buildings of Manhattan, but it was illuminated in just the right way to make it beautiful.

"Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom…" Elliot sang softly. Olivia shot him a look and punched him lightly in the arm.

"You're the one that practically died when you found out we were coming here."

He shrugged and looked over at her. "It's not so bad, Liv. But we do have a perp to catch." Olivia nodded, her business side returning.

"I'm thinking I'll go to this charity event and tell anyone who will listen that I'm from New York, and give them as much of my cover story as they can stomach." She paused and bit her lip. "And I want to scope out as many men as I can. And I want to use that nifty little earpiece we have so you can hear everything."

"I've wanted to test the earpiece myself. Where is this little gala?"

She rolled her eyes. "Under tents in Rittenhouse Square." She said. "You can just sit on a bench all night." She supplied helpfully.

"Oh, gee thanks, Liv. I'll look forward to that."

* * *

While they bantered on the steps of the museum, not caring as the sun went down; their captain back in New York was getting extremely concerned. "I feel like I should be calling them every fifteen minutes, making sure no disasters have descended upon them yet." Cragen said to Huang and Fin.

Huang sat down in the Captain's office and ran a hand over the armrest of the chair. "I wouldn't worry, Captain. They've only been there for a few hours. What could have possibly gone wrong by now?"

Cragen rolled his eyes. "It's Elliot and Olivia. Anything could have gone by now. They seem to scream out and attract any kind of danger they can find. Plus, I don't like the sound of this."

"Sound of what?" Fin asked.

"Killing women from New York City." Cragen said. He turned to Huang. "There's no profile to explain that, is there, doc?"

Huang shook his head. "Of course not. All we can assume is nothing, at this point."

"Well that's very helpful." Cragen said, rolling his eyes.

Fin looked between the doctor and his captain. "You don't think they're trying to get someone specific, do you?"

"I can't think of any other reason."

"Do you think it's Liv?"

"I can't imagine it would be. I just hope they can find out who it is before this guy kills someone else."

* * *

"You know, it's not so bad here." Olivia said as darkness took over Philadelphia, and the skyline flooded the evening sky. Elliot smiled.

"No, Liv, it's not so bad here at all." She turned to look at him, struck by the soft tones of his voice. "It's not so bad anywhere you are, really." He said his voice almost nothing but a whisper. Olivia swallowed hard and tried to look away, but all she could do was move ever so much closer to him.

"Elliot…" she said as their lips moved dangerously close to each other. "We really…" she trailed off, her brain unable to spit out any of the thousand reasons that they shouldn't do this.

"Live a little bit, Olivia." Elliot whispered. With those words, he moved his lips the fraction of an inch they needed to come together, and kissed her.


End file.
